Sink Or Swim
by Mablestory
Summary: Hawkstripe is a normal everyday warrior. But he's on a mission. A mission to find out who killed Reedpaw. He has quite a knack for things like this, so it's going to be easy. But soon he finds he needs help from a lot of mouse-brains, like his father, Brownlight, the deputy, Snowclaw, and Sandheart's friend from ShadowClan, Nightmask. Will he solve the mystery with just his wits?
1. Chapter 1

"Help! Reedpaw's been killed!"

Hawkstripe jolted awake, nearly toppling out of his nest. Only half-alert, his brain tried to make sense of the panic around him. Cats were rushing out of the den to see what the commotion was about, and yowls of dismay echoed around the camp. The brown tabby stumbled out of the warriors' den, letting the cats in front of him lead the way. Hawkstripe weaved through the confused crowd of cats to find a spot where he could see what was going on. Eventually, he settled for watching from a small corner near the fresh-kill pile. The scent of fish was tempting, but helped him wake up.

"What happened?" a calm but commanding voice inquired, emerging from the leader's den. A gray and white she-cat hurried up to him, filling him in with a low meow. _Hmm, it seems we have a murder on our paws,_ Hawkstripe observed. _So much more interesting than the usual battle casualties, I think. Such a shame that a young cat was killed though._

"Poolstar, would you like me to retrieve the body?" a white tom asked, directing his speech at the leader. Poolstar looked up at his deputy, nodding. _Don't send him,_ Hawkstripe thought, annoyed. _You need to inspect the way Reedpaw's body is positioned before you just move it. It could be vital information._

"Snowclaw, take Hawkstripe with you." Poolstar paused, before quickly amending, "Not that I don't think you can carry her by yourself, but the killer may still be down there. Besides, Hawkstripe has a knack for things like this. He may be helpful." _You bet I'll be._

Snowclaw nodded resepctfully, flicking his tail at Hawkstripe to join him. The brown tabby leapt to his paws and followed the deputy out of the camp. They quickly made it to the lakeside, where a body was lying a few tree-lengths to the left of where they were standing. Hawkstripe briskly moved close enough to see it clearly, with Snowclaw behind him.

Reedpaw's body was lying face-down in the wet sand. Behind her, pointing to the camp, were two relatively deep trenches. Careful not to disturb anything, Hawkstripe inspected the apprentice for wounds. She must have been jumped, because she had no scratch marks. Interestingly, her tail was ruffled, almost as if someone had bitten it. On the back on her head though, there were a few dark spots were the fur had been tainted by blood.

 _Strange._ Hawkstripe decided to figure out why there were deep lines in the sand. Placing a paw over one, he saw that the trench was slightly too narrow for him to lower his paw into it without disturbing the sand. _It would probably fit an apprentice's paw, though. What if she was standing where these marks are furthest from the body, and someone pulled her back to the lake by her tail?_

"Snowclaw, come here!" he called distractedly. Snowclaw hurried over to Hawkstripe, kicking up sand in his wake. Hawkstripe glared at him and meowed through gritted teeth, " _Slowly_ and _carefully_ , so you don't disturb the _evidence_." Raising an eyebrow, the deputy shrugged and slowed his pace.

"What have you found?" the white tom asked, peering at the marks in the sand. Hawkstripe used his tail to bar Snowclaw's way.

"I'm going to stand next to where the marks start, and when I nod you're going to drag me backwards by my tail," Hawkstripe instructed, ignoring the tom's question. The brown tabby got into position, looking over his shoulder to make sure that Snowclaw was ready. Hawkstripe nodded. Immediately, he felt sharp teeth clamp down and yank on his tail. Hawkstripe struggled to keep his balance and dug his claws into the sand. As he was dragged to the lake, he grimaced at the feel of his claws clogging up with sand.

After a few seconds, Hawkstripe told Snowclaw to stop. Taking a few steps back and cleaning himself up a bit, Hawkstripe was pleased to see that the marks he had made were almost identical to the other ones, except his were slightly larger and deeper. The brown tabby nodded approvingly to himself.

"Why did we do that?" Snowclaw asked, stumped. Hawkstripe gave him a withering glare. _Is he that dense? Why do I even bother with these cats?_

Sighing, Hawkstripe moved back to the body again. It appeared that Reedpaw had died because her airways were full of water and sand.

"Snowclaw," the brown tabby called, "if you wanted to drown a cat in the lake, but be able to make a quick getaway, how would you do it?"

Snowclaw gave him a weird and searching glance before answering, "I would hold them under the water while I'm still on the bank."

"Exactly!" Hawkstripe meowed. "And how would you hold them under if you were drowning them in the lake?"

"I suppose I'd only need to hold their head under to kill them," the deputy replied.

Hawkstripe nodded again, this time thoughtfully. Gesturing for Snowclaw to come closer, he grabbed the back of the white tom's head and forced it down into the sand. He held him there for a few seconds, before letting him go. Snowclaw glared at Hawkstripe, spitting out sand. _Interesting. If I can do that to a cat my size, the killer would have no problem with an apprentice._

"What was that for?" he snarled.

"Proof of theory," Hawkstripe answered absentmindedly. Going back to Reedpaw, he held out an unsheathed paw against the back of her head. His claws matched up prettty well with the red marks. "See?"

"No, I don't see, because I'm still trying to blink the sand out of my eyes," Snowclaw retorted bitterly. "And I don't see why you had to push me into the sand to prove that."

Hawkstripe shrugged. "I've wanted to do that for a long time. Now I had an excuse."

"Why you-" Snowclaw started, fur bristling.

"Are you okay?" a cat asked, emerging from the reeds.

"We're fine, Goldenstorm," Hawkstripe reasurred, forcing his tone to sound light.

Goldenstorm looked uninterested, continuing, "Poolstar thought you may have run into some trouble, since you were taking so long."

Hawkstripe shook his head, meowing, "No, we were just looking at the evidence before we left, weren't we Snowclaw?"

"Yes," Snowclaw deadpanned, narrowing his eyes at the brown warrior. "Evidence."

"Speaking of evidence, I need to check one last thing before we go," Hawkstripe added, before Goldenstorm could say anything more.

"Does it involve the body?" Goldenstorm asked, sighing. "Seriously, you don't need to do . . . this," she gestured around her with her tail, "to figure out that it was probably just a troublesome rouge. No-one from the Clan would kill Reedpaw."

Hawkstripe held his tail up for silence. "That's just it. I was going to just double-check now, but I haven't scented any cats here other than us, Reedpaw, and Miststep. Reedpaw is dead, Miststep came to investigate and then woke up the entire Clan, and now we're here. A rouge or loner's scent is still recognizable even if they try to disguse it because it's so different from the usual scents in our territory. A disgused RiverClan scent, however..." he trailed off, leaving the rest to piece itself together in his Clanmates' heads. Goldenstorm nodded grimly, while Snowclaw tilted his head to one side in thought.

"I don't see how this is relevant," Snowclaw admitted. _StarClan help us when he becomes our leader._

Hawkstripe sighed exasperatedly. "Remind me how you became deputy again?"

Goldenstorm gave him a condensending look, explaining, "He means that only a RiverClan cat could have done it."

Snowclaw's eyes widened. "Oh. So what are we going to do?"

Hawkstripe stood up confidently, a plan formulating in his head. "I'm going to figure out who killed Reedpaw."

"Can I help?" Snowclaw asked.

"No."


	2. Chapter 2

Snowclaw's expression of pure disappointment was remarkably similar to one a cat would expect to see on a kit's face after they have been told to stop playing for the day.

"But I'm the deputy!" the white tom protested. "You can't just investigate by yourself!" _I can, and you better believe it, mousebrain,_ the brown tabby wanted to reply.

Hawkstripe had to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying this out loud, very much aware that a certain golden she-cat was still watching him.

"Let's go back to camp," he chose to meow instead, changing the topic. Hawkstripe abruptly swivelled on his paws and marched through the reeds, intending to head back to camp. He could only hear one set of paws following him, so Hawkstripe glanced over his shoulder to see who it was. _Goldenstorm. Of course._ A loud yowl suddenly came from back near the lake, slicing through the night air.

"What am I supposed to do here?" Snowclaw yowled. Even though he wasn't visible, Hawkstripe could still imagine the confusion on his face. "We have to take the body back! Can someone help?"

Hawkstripe sighed to himself. _Why is he being so loud? Is he_ trying _to let the other Clans know that we have a murder on our paws? Honestly . . ._ Goldenstorm nudged him.

"You should go help him," she told him. "That's what you were sent out here for."

Hawkstripe glared the the golden she-cat. "No. He's annoying me."

"Don't be such a kit, Hawkstripe," Goldenstorm chided. "Snowclaw needs your help, and as our mother always said-"

"Don't talk about her," Hawkstripe interrupted sharply. Painful memories sprung to his mind, buzzing around his conciousness, and he tried to shake them off like he would flies. "She's no longer a part of our lives."

oOo

 _Hawkkit watched with round eyes as a golden tabby she-cat stood to her paws to confront the brown tom in front of her._

 _"I can't do this anymore, Brownlight," she meowed steadily, her gaze level with her mate's._

 _"What do you mean?" Brownlight growled, stepping sideways to block the nursery entrance._

 _The she-cat sighed, her eyes clouding as she continued, "I can't be with you anymore. It's not good for the kits to have someone with a temper like yours around them, or me. I want you to go."_

 _Brownlight snarled, lunging at the golden she-cat. He pinned her down with powerful paws. "I am their father!"_

 _"Not anymore."_

oOo

 _And she's not my mother anymore._

"Hello, RiverClan to Hawstripe," Goldenstorm meowed, waving her tail in front of Hawkstripe's face. "Speak please, you've been standing there for a whole minute."

Hawkstripe shook his head again, cursing himself for losing control of his thoughts. "It's nothing. Let's go," he said, determined to move on and get back to camp.

Goldenstorm sighed. "Hawkstripe, it's okay to admit that you miss her. I do too. If you want to talk, I'm your sister. I understand what you're going through." _You don't._

"I'm not 'going through' anything," Hawkstripe denied, starting to walk again. He set a brisk pace, but even his fast march was frustratingly only rivalling Goldenstorm's easy trot. Just as he was about to ask her to leave him alone, a cat came jogging up from behind them.

"Hey guys," Snowclaw greeted breathlessly. _Ugh, not you._ Reedpaw's body was draped across his back, but the weight didn't seem to bother him. "Glad I caught you, since we're basically back."

"Good for you," Hawkstripe drawled, trying to inject as much sarcasm as possible into his words. Snowclaw _hmph_ ed, but fell into step with the brown warrior.

"Hawkstripe, whether you like it or not I'm going to help you," the white tom announced. "I want to help serve Reedpaw's killer the justice they deserve." _Wow, this tom is desperate. I bet he just wants to be able to say that he found the killer. StarClan knows that he needs as much support as he can before he becomes leader._

" . . . _No_ ," Hawkstripe emphasised. "You'll only get in my way."

Snowclaw's eyes lit up with determination as he declared, "Then let me prove myself. Set a challenge for me. If I fail, I won't bother you again. If I succeed, and it has to be something that I can actually succeed at, then you let me help you until this is all solved."

Hawkstripe thought about it for a second. _If he loses, he gets out of my fur. If he doesn't, then he may actually be useful. Besides, I know that I'm quite intimidating to some cats. Snowclaw may be able to get information out of them that I wouldn't otherwise be able to. A win-win situation, I think._

"Deal," he decided.

Snowclaw grinned. "Name your game." _Oh, this is no game._

"When we get into camp, everyone will still be awake," Hawkstripe meowed. "You're going to interrogate all of the she-cats in the Clan. I want a full report of what everyone _says_ they were doing at moonhigh. If anyone looks suspicious or uncomfortable, I want to know about that too. Don't let anyone know that you're actually interrogating them, because you'll tip them off if one of them is the killer. You have until dawn."

Snowclaw blinked at first, clearly overwhelmed. _Hah._

Hawkstripe smirked challengingly. "Or is that too hard for you?" Snowclaw snapped out of his daze, gaze focusing.

"I won't let you down." With Reedpaw's body still limply draped over his back, Snowclaw set off again through the camp entrance. Hawkstripe smiled smugly to himself, following closely. _He won't be able to do it. Even if he tips some cats off, at least it'll be worth his disappointment._

As soon as the trio entered the camp, wails of grief rose up into the night air. A light brown she-cat rushed up to them, burying her muzzle in Reedpaw's fur. A blue-gray tom came up to comfort her, prying her away from the dead apprentice so that Snowclaw could lower the body onto the ground.

"Why her?" the brown she-cat howled. "My daughter didn't deserve this!" The blue tom laid a tail across her shoulders as she sobbed into his shoulder. He smiled tersely at Snowclaw.

"Thank you for bringing her back to us," he meowed courteously.

"No problem, Bluepelt," Snowclaw replied. Hawkstripe nodded to himself, walking away from the grieving couple. _While Snowclaw attempts to get information out of the she-cats, I'll talk to the toms._ Approaching the nearest cat, Hawkstripe recognised him as Minnowclaw. The black tom was a new warrior, having only sat his vigil a few nights ago. Reedpaw would have been his denmate not too long ago.

"Hey Minnowclaw!" Hawkstripe called. The black tom's head whipped around to face him, eyes wide.

"Hey," he squeaked back.

"Quite an interesting night," Hawkstripe commented smoothly, sitting down beside Minnowclaw. The black tom nodded.

Seeing that he wasn't getting an verbal answer, Hawkstripe continued, "I was asleep until all of the clamour woke me up. Did you see Miststep come in?"

Minnowclaw shook his head. "I was asleep as well." _Oh well._

 _"_ Hmm, that's too bad," Hawkstripe meowed, pretending to sound disappointed. "I was hoping to find someone who was out of their nest at that time. I guess I'll go." With that, the brown tabby stood up to leave. _One down, a few more to go._

"Wait," Minnowclaw called timidly. Hawkstripe turned around, interest piqued. "You should ask Miststep. She was at the lake." _Yes. Thanks for the newsflash, mousebrain. That piece of information was so unexpected that I nearly fainted from the shock. I don't know how you could have possibly made that connection. Brilliant mind we have here. Congratulations on a fantastic discovery._

Sighing internally, Hawkstripe just nodded and left to find more cats. As it turned out, surprise surprise, a lot of cats tend to sleep at night. Poolstar, Pebblepaw, Icepaw, Troutfur the elder and even Bluepelt, Reedpaw's father, were of no help. Hawkstripe even met up with Snowclaw to see how he was getting on. The white tom refused to tell him of anything he found until dawn, but it seemed that he was actually doing quite well. Wandering around the camp, Hawkstripe knew that he was just stalling now. There was only one tom in the camp who he hadn't talked to yet.

Brownlight.

 _I have to talk to him_ , Hawkstripe told himself sternly. _He may have some useful information._ The other side of him didn't care what information the brown warrior had. Anything to aviod talking to him again.

oOo

 _Hawkkit was woken up by the sudden absence of his mother's warmth._

 _"Where are you going?" he mewled, rolling over and shivering. Goldenkit started to whimper._

 _"Don't leave," she pleaded._

 _The golden tabby queen smiled gently, bending down so that she was eye level with her daughter._

 _"I'll be right back, don't you worry."_

oOo

Hawkstripe growled to himself. _She lied._ He shuddered involantarily to think of what had happened the next morning.

oOo

 _"Where is she?" Brownlight screamed furiously. Hawkkit flattened his ears against the noise, huddling closer to his sister. Both kits remained silent._

 _"Hawkkit!" the brown warrior yowled. "Tell me what happened right now!" Brownlight took a menacing step towards Hawkkit, but then froze and angled his ears behind him. Suddenly, he collapsed onto the floor and transformed his features into those of a weary griever. He turned around slowly to greet Poolstar, who had just come into the nursery._

 _"What was all of that shouting for?" he asked calmly, surverying the three cats._

 _"She's not here," Brownlight replied hollowly. Hawkkit bristled slightly at his fake tone. How dare he pretend that he cared for her? "She went missing."_

 _Poolstar's blue eyes flooded with sympathy, and he laid a comforting tail across Brownlight's shoulders. "We'll find her, don't worry."_

 _Brownlight looked up at his leader, a disgusting mask of innocent hope plastered across his face. "Can I take Hawkkit and Goldenkit outside to search with me first?"_

 _"Of course," Poolstar smiled. Little did he know that he had just sent two kits off to recieve an hour of yelling and beating._

oOo

 _Looks like we're going to meet again, father._


	3. Chapter 3

Hawkstripe steeled himself as he approached the nursery. He could hear the loud mewls of kits even from where he stood, about a fox-length away. The brown tom masked his expression carefully and entered the nursery. Brownlight was inside, with an orange and white kitten on his back. He stomped around the nursery like a badger, and the kit was squealing in delight. In a nearby nest, an orange queen was curled around a dark brown kit. She fondly watched Brownlight playing, and her expression nearly made Hawkstripe want to retch.

"Father," he interrupted calmly. Brownlight stopped stomping and smiled at his son, sliding the kit off his back. The brown tom took a few steps up to Hawkstripe.

"You've grown," he commented proudly. Brownlight stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him. "Nearly as tall as me now."

Hawkstripe growled, and the light faded from Brownlight's eyes. "I'm not here to talk about how long it's been since you drove apart my family."

Brownlight sighed, shaking his head. "I see you still believe in those kit tales to make yourself feel better. Anyway, what do you want then?" _Let me think about that . . . I want to turn back time, I want you to jump off a cliff and die, and I want my mother back. That too hard?_

"We need to talk about what happened," Hawkstripe meowed through gritted teeth. When Brownlight made no move to talk or exit the nursery, he glared pointedly at the orange queen and her kits. "Alone."

Brownlight nodded and moved to quickly touch noses with the orange she-cat. "Let's go outside." Hawkstripe followed him out of the nursery and into the still-bustling camp. It seemed like a few cats had gone to sleep, but most were still awake despite the hour. Involuntarily, Hawkstripe yawned.

"So," Brownlight started, "what is it?"

"I want to ask you a few questions," Hawkstripe answered.

"Hawkstripe, you know what happened with your mother wasn't my faul-" Brownlight meowed.

"About Reedpaw's death!" Hawkstripe snapped. "Or were you too busy with your new mate to notice that one of our apprentices was murdered?"

Brownlight looked taken aback and narrowed his eyes. "You think I did it?"

"It's a possibility," Hawkstripe returned. "Considering what you did to Goldenstorm and I."

"Enough about that!" Brownlight ordered, a familiar tone of rage entering his voice. "What's done is done! I was younger and foolish then."

Hawkstripe sighed, pushing down his own anger. "What were you doing at midnight?"

Brownlight eyed him warily before sitting back down tensely. "Minding the kits while Emberwing went out for a walk." _A walk, hmm? Well, it seems like he was of some use after all._

Hawkstripe nodded. "Okay. That's all I wanted to know." He turned to leave without saying goodbye, not looking back to see his father return to his family. _All done._ Hawkstripe yawned. _Now time for a quick nap before sunrise . . ._

oOo

" _Hawkstriiiipe_ ," a long, drawn out voice called in a sing-song way. "Wake _uup_."

Hawkstripe's eyes snapped open and he glared at the white tom. "StarClan, Snowclaw, grow up."

"But we're friends!" Snowclaw protested, a glimmer of hurt in his eyes.

"Possible partners in crime-solving," Hawkstripe corrected. "Emphasis on the possible."

Snowclaw perked up at this, exclaiming, "Hey, let me tell you what I found today! It's really interesting, I swear. Let's go outside." He hurried outside without waiting for Hawkstripe, disappearing in only a few seconds.

Hawkstripe reluctantly heaved himself out of his nest and plodded after the energetic white tom. "I suppose so." When they stepped outside, Hawkstripe had to blink a few times to get used to the sunlight. The sky was streaked with red and orange, and the sun was sleepily peeking over the horiozon.

Contrasting the slow sunrise, Snowclaw was already half-way out the entrance by the time Hawkstripe caught sight of him. The deputy led him out to the lake, where the water was reflecting the sunrise.

"What have you found?" Hawkstripe asked, sitting down beside Snowclaw.

"Well, most cats said that they were sleeping, which is kind of suspicious," Snowclaw started.

"It was midnight," Hawkstripe exasperatedly reminded him. "Most cats would be sleeping." _Maybe he didn't do as well with this as he thinks._

"Oh," Snowclaw meowed. After a small pause, he continued, "Anyway, there were a few cats who said something different. Emberwing," _You know what, Brownlight? I just thought of something else I want instead. I want her to dump you and then_ push _you off that cliff,_ "she said that she got Brownlight up so that he could watch the kits while she went for a walk. Uh, Miststep, she said that she was out at the lake, but she was the one who reported seeing the murder. I'm not sure why she would have been down there in the first place though."

"She's down there every moon," Hawkstripe supplied. "I've followed her, and she just stares out at the lake all night and comes back at dawn."

Snowclaw gave him an inquisitive look, but didn't ask any questions. "Okay. So, Goldenstorm was also helpful. Kind of. I mean, when I asked her where she was at midnight she went all snarky on me and was like, 'I was busy being woken up by all of you mouse-brains who are fussing over nothing'." _Typical Goldenstorm. "But_ then she settled down and told me that she noticed Sandheart's nest was cold when everyone was woken up. Sandheart had told me before that she was sleeping all night."

Hawkstripe nodded and smiled to himself. _Looks like we've got a suspect. Thanks, sister._ He turned to leave, intending to go and find Sandheart.

"Where are you going?" Snowclaw asked.

" . . . To question Sandheart," Hawkstripe deadpanned. "Obviously, since she seems the most suspicious."

"So I found the first suspect!" Snowclaw exclaimed happily. "Does that mean I passed your challenge?" _Hmm, foxdung. I was hoping he wouldn't ask, but . . . I suppose he did pass. Although I would still give credit for the suspect finding to Goldenstorm, not this overly hyper twerp._

Hawkstripe gave one firm nod to Snowclaw before leaving him. The deputy quickly caught up to him, and they entered the camp together. The dawn patrol was assembling near the entrance, and Snowclaw's eyes suddenly went wide.

"Mousedung, I forgot!" he cursed. "I have to organise the morning patrols now, so you're on your own. Tell me what you find!" he called over his shoulder as he ran off to find Poolstar.

"What makes him think that I'd prefer him to tag along?" Hawkstripe muttered to himself. "The mousebrain barely knows how to sort out the patrols, let alone run the Clan or help me catch a murderer."

Feeling slightly lighter now that the irritating white tom wasn't shadowing him, Hawkstripe set off to find a certain pale she-cat. He quickly spotted her near the fresh-kill pile, watching the kits playing with a fond expression.

"Sandheart!" he called, effectively catching the she-cat's attention. Sandheart turned to face him and smiled warmly, gesturing for him to speak again.

"Shame what happened last night, don't you think?" Hawkstripe asked casually, sitting down beside Sandheart.

The pale she-cat nodded in agreement, eyes softening, if that was possible. "Reedpaw was such an energetic and promising cat. Do you know what happened to her?"

"No, but I was wondering if you did," Hawkstripe replied. "I was sleeping at the time, so I didn't really get a good understanding of what everyone found. Where were you at midnight?"

Sandheart averted her eyes, answering, "Sleeping as well, of course." She gave a small awkward laugh. "Where else would I be?" When Hawkstripe didn't reply, she shuffled her paws slightly. _Looks like someone's not telling the truth._

"Where were you at midnight?" the brown tabby repeated. Sandheart looked up, panic flooding her soft features. "I know for a fact that you weren't in camp."

"Don't tell anyone!" Sandheart suddenly blurted. "I didn't mean to cause any harm!"

Hawkstripe narrowed his eyes. _Is this a confession?_ "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" the pale warrior denied. Her face remained stoic for another heartbeat, before she put down the mask again. "Just don't tell anyone, please!" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I could be kicked out of the Clan. What would my mother think of me? A traitor, that's what they'd call me. Hawkstripe, I do believe that I'm doing the right thing. Just give me a chance to explain tonight. Meet me near the ShadowClan border, down mear the lake." Her eyes were wide and pleading, although that wasn't what made up Hawkstripe's mind.

She was hiding something, and if she was willing to reveal everything because she thought that he already knew, when if fact he had no proof that she had killed Reedpaw, then he wasn't going to pass up that opportunity.

"Please?" she repeated.

"Alright," Hawkstripe agreed. _Let's shed some light on a few things._


	4. Chapter 4

Hawkstripe twitched his tail agitatedly, inhaling the irritatingly familar cat scent behind him.

"I told you to stay behind," he growled through gritted teeth, still with his back facing his companion.

"Aww, but this could be important!"

"Which is why we don't want to panic her by having you here!" Hawkstripe hissed, whirling around to face a sullen Snowclaw. "She didn't agree to meet you here, only me!"

"Love you too, Hawkstripe," the white tom muttered, kicking up the sand with his paws. "Feeling really appreciated. I suppose you don't care that Sandheart was still sleeping when I left."

Hawkstripe calmed down slightly, although he was still bristling. _I should have known that she might wimp out. Maybe she's even told me to come here so that she can kill me too. Stupid she-cats, always running away when you need them. Stupid toms as well, for that matter. Stupid cats. Some days I wonder why I don't walk out of the camp and never come back..._

Despite thinking this, Hawkstripe knew exactly why he stayed in RiverClan. _Goldenstorm. I can't let her down, not when everyone else has. StarClan, why does my family have to be so screwed up?_

"A cat!" Snowclaw exclaimed suddenly, bounding off without explanation.

Hawkstripe blinked, confused, as his brain tried to proccess what was going on. Narrowing his eyes, he could just make out the hazy shape of what he assumed was the aforementioned cat sitting at the border. _Who could_ that _be? Wait a minute... Sandheart, freaking out, explaining something at the border..._

"Hawkstripe! Look who we have here!" Snowclaw yelled back to his partner. Hawkstripe decided it might be useful for another cat to be here. After all, he could be a key witness. When he reached the cat, it appeared to be a black tom with amber eyes and a white mask pattern on his face.

"Well?" the dark brown tom meowed. "Did you see anything last night, when.. Nevermind." He realized he was just about to reveal the secret that a RiverClan apprentice died. _I can't show weakness._ When the tom didn't answer, he looked up. "Did you?" Snowclaw asked.

"Oh! Uhh, well, I saw a gray or blue, maybe silver cat pulling another brown cat by it's tail." the tom answered. "I couldn't tell if it was a tom or a she-cat, though. Neither one of them. I was just going for a drink, and thought they were play-fighting apprentices. But then again, both of them looked small from far away."

"Wow! That is so much evidence. Thanks a lot, uhh..." Snowclaw realized they hadn't asked his name.

"Nightmask. My name is Nightmask." the black tom said.

"Well, thanks Nightmask." Hawkstripe replied. "Oh and by the way, what are you doing here anyways? Wasn't Sandheart supposed to be here?"

"Oh yeah, umm, well, we're good friends, and like to catch up on things before gatherings." Nightmask said, looking completely stricken when Hawkstripe had asked him.

"Alright." the brown tom said absentmindedly. _I don't have time for this stuff. I've got a murderer to look for._ When him and Snowclaw were walking back, Hawkstripe smiled with determination. _I have more evidence. Moonlight shining on pelts can also look silver, so it could also be a black or a white cat as well. This is going to be easy._ He looked up at Snowclaw. _As long as this mouse-brain doesn't get in the way._


	5. Chapter 5

As he sat down in a small grass patch biting into a fish, Hawkstripe thought about all the black, white, blue-gray, silver, and regular gray cats in the Clan. _There are so many... Poolstar, Featherpelt, Bluepelt, Miststep, Ripplecloud, Minnowclaw, Darkfoot, Pebblepaw, Icepaw, and... Well, even Snowclaw could be a suspect. I'd better question all these cats as soon as I can._ But then he started to think of reason. _Poolstar seemed so calm when Reedpaw died, as if he didn't care at all that a great cat worthy of becoming a warrior was killed. He could be a likely suspect. But then again, why in StarClan would he want to kill a cat like that? That crosses him off my list. But I'm still questioing him. Featherpelt... No likely reason of murder that I know of. But being medicine cat, he said that he was gathering_ herbs, and I trust him. I just need to know if he saw anything.

"Hawkstripe!" a voice called to him. _This mouse-brain, again?_

"What is it, Snowclaw?"

"I know some likely suspects."

"Really, who?" Hawkstripe stood up, a questioning look on his face.

"Well, Icepaw could be one, since he fought with Reedpaw a lot." Hawkstripe noted this. _Icepaw, fights._

"And then I thought that Bluepelt or Pebblepaw could've killed her if she was maybe being annoying to the family." _Bluepelt or Pebblepaw, family problems._

"Which leads me to my next theory, since she was Minnowclaw's apprentice, and maybe he killed her because she was his first apprentice, and he couldn't put up with her much longer." _Minnowclaw, apprentice._

"Alright, that it?" Hawkstripe asked his partner. Snowclaw nodded. "Although Featherpelt has been a little jumpy lately." He shrugged off his own comment.

"Well anyway, do you think you might have an idea of who might've killed her?"

"No." Hawkstripe admitted. "But I have an idea of how to figure it out."


	6. Chapter 6

**Credit goes to Lazerkat, for I adopted part of this story from him/her. Thank you.**

Snowclaw had, of course, decided to help Hawkstripe ask about the suspects they had. He didn't even ask him first. He just said, "So, who we gonna ask first?" Hawkstripe just sighed.

"Why don't you ask our... temporary suspects? I'll be back." He decided to go ask Featherpelt. _Since he's been jumpy lately, he might have seen something important._

He stuck his head in the hollow tree where Featherpelt's den was at. "Hello?" a shaky voice asked the brown tabby.

"Hi." Hawkstripe said, his green eyes staring in the dark tree. The fluffy silver tabby stepped into the light. "A-are you here to ask a-about D-Darkfoot? She's due in-"

"No need." Hawkstripe silenced the tom by lifting his tail up. "I want to know if you saw anything important the night Reedpaw died."

"R-Reedpaw? Okay, you c-caught me." Hawkstripe perked his ears. "What?" he urged.

"Well," Featherpelt began. "I-I saw... Umm.. I think it m-might've been a r-rogue or something... But I swear I saw a s-silver glowing cat p-pulling Reedpaw by her t-tail, and forcing her h-head down i-in the sand. I-I've been sh-shaken up e-ever s-since." _So I was right. Some cat from our Clan either black, white, gray, or silver had pulled Reedpaw by the tail, and forced her head into the sand until Reedpaw had fully been killed._

"That's it?" Hawkstripe said. "There's nothing else?"

"Well..." Featherpelt said uneasily. "I think I heard the cat say something like, 'You're right, Reedpaw. I _am_ a murderer.'" He shivered. The only movement Hawkstripe made was a flick of his tail. "Reedpaw must have accused whatever cat of doing something else murderous." he said, looking thoughtful. "Wait a minute." he stopped. "Did you hear anything revealing in the voice? Did you recognize it?"

"Hmmm..." Featherpelt sat down and scratched at his ear. "I don't know, I think the voice was too far away to recognize." He stopped scratching for a second. He mumbled something, yawned, and curled up. Hawkstripe left. He felt his ear flick as Snowclaw bounced up to him. "I found something!" _This cat is_ way _too enthusiastic._ Hawkstripe looked at him skeptically. "What is it?"

"Minnowclaw could be our most likely suspect!" he announced. Hawkstripe stared at him in disbelief. No way this mouse-brain could have already found this much information. "Just think. He was the mentor of Reedpaw, and when I talked to him, he stammered and stuttered every time I said something about her! Also, he was continuously shuffling his paws, as if he felt uncomfortable talking about her."

Hawkstripe kept a rude comment to himself, and just acted like he noted it down. "Alright. But now, I know who we _really_ need to talk to."

"Who's that?" Snowclaw asked. Hawkstripe grunted. "I hate to have to say this, but..." He paused.

"We have to talk to my father."


	7. Chapter 7

"Again?" Snowclaw asked. He went and got a fish from the fresh-kill pile. "Yes, again!" Hawkstripe said like it was obvious. They sat down together, and Snowclaw pushed the trout to Hawkstripe. Hawkstripe grunted at his prey. _N_ _ot hungry._ He looked over to what really mattered. His father.

 _oOo_

 _Hawkkit and Goldenkit reluctantly followed their father outside. They knew what was coming. Brownlight halted near the border by ThunderClan and turned around. "Where is Sunheart?"_

 _Goldenkit whimpered. "W-we don't know."_

 _"LIAR!" Brownlight took Hawkkit by the scruff and lifted him off the ground. He stared at his father with wide eyes. "I'm innocent!" he pleaded._

 _"Please let him go." Goldenkit whispered. Brownlight threw Hawkkit over the border, then ordered Goldenkit to follow him. "Or else." He assumed that would be more convincing, and to prove his theory Goldenkit immediately ran to catch up with him._

 _He crossed the river, and Goldenkit hopped on his back to get there herself. Brownlight ordered both of the kits to help him mark the SunningRocks. And they did. Then Brownlight led them deeper into ThunderClan territory. He ordered them to mark territory there, too. Then he ran back across the river._

 _oOo_

Hawkstripe stared absentmindedly as Brownlight was shouting something at Featherpelt. When he walked over, all he could hear was Featherpelt plead: "I don't know! Just let me go back to my den and I could try to find her!"

"NO!" Brownlight growled. "You find her right here, right now. You saw where she went. Now tell me."

Before Featherpelt could plead anymore, Hawkstripe stepped between them. "ENOUGH!" he yelled. A few cats looked over their shoulders to see him face-to-face with his father, then looked back to their own conversations. Snowclaw and Featherpelt stepped up beside Hawkstripe, both looking ready to fight.

"You're outnumbered." said Snowclaw. Brownlight smirked.

"I don't care." he said. Then, lunging for the throat, he pounced on his son.

 _oOo_

 _When they went back home to their Clan, it seemed nobody realized that the two kits had been out. Except Poolstep, the deputy. He had seen them leave with their father, and come back without him. He stepped up to them._

 _"What are you doing?"_

 _oOo_


End file.
